Put Cloudbreak on your portfolio.

Leave your email and we’ll reach out within one business day.

Prefer to talk? Call 940-391-3558.

Hurricane Eloise (1975)

Hurricane Eloise was a Category 3 hurricane at its peak, with 127 mph winds and a lowest pressure of 950 mb, per NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Modeled winds reached tropical-storm force (39 mph) at 8 of the cities we track; the strongest was Crestview, FL, with a modeled peak gust of 107 mph.

Peak strength127 mph winds (1-minute)
Category 3
Cities with tropical-storm-force windsModeled, of the cities we track
8
LandfallsFirst September 17, 1975
4
Lowest pressure
950 mb

Track, wind field and cities

Select a piece of the track or a city for details.

  • Depression or weaker
  • Tropical storm
  • Hurricane, Category 1 or 2
  • Major hurricane, Category 3 to 5
  • Landfall
  • City (larger ring, stronger modeled gust)
  • Modeled wind field, 39 to 111 mph sustained (darker, stronger; orange 111 mph+)
Source: NOAA/NWS National Hurricane Center best track (HURDAT2). City winds and the wind field are modeled.

The shaded areas are where our model puts Hurricane Eloise’s sustained winds over open land at 39 mph or more (tropical-storm force), 58, 74 (hurricane force) and 111 mph (major hurricane force) at some point along its track. Modeled, not measured. How we model hurricane winds

Landfalls

  1. September 17, 1975, tropical storm at 69 mph, in the Dominican Republic
  2. September 21, 1975, tropical storm at 52 mph, in Mexico
  3. September 21, 1975, tropical storm at 52 mph, in Mexico
  4. September 23, 1975, Category 3 at 127 mph, about 29 miles from Crestview, FL

Modeled winds at cities (8)

Estimated peak winds for open, flat ground at each city’s center. Not measurements. How we model hurricane winds

CityPeak gustSustainedClosest passPeak
Crestview, FL107 mph87 mph21 milesSep 23, 1975, 7:45 AM EDT
Pensacola, FL90 mph73 mph52 milesSep 23, 1975, 7:45 AM EDT
Montgomery, AL61 mph50 mph24 milesSep 23, 1975, 10:30 AM CDT
Daphne, AL60 mph49 mph95 milesSep 23, 1975, 6:45 AM CDT
Columbus, GA60 mph49 mph54 milesSep 23, 1975, 2:00 PM EDT
Tallahassee, FL59 mph48 mph119 milesSep 23, 1975, 7:45 AM EDT
Atlanta, GA56 mph45 mph45 milesSep 23, 1975, 4:30 PM EDT
Mobile, AL54 mph44 mph109 milesSep 23, 1975, 6:45 AM CDT

What happened

Eloise crossed Hispaniola and the Caribbean, turned northeast across the Gulf of Mexico and came ashore about 10 miles east of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on September 23, 1975.1 NHC's best track puts landfall at 1215 UTC (7:15 a.m. CDT) as a Category 3 hurricane with 110-knot (127 mph) winds and a 950 mb central pressure.2

Eglin Air Force Base recorded a 115 mph gust before its instrument failed, and Hurlburt Field gusted to 85 mph.1 Storm tide reached 10.6 feet in Destin, with higher water east of the track.1 Between Fort Walton Beach and Panama City, 85 to 90 percent of the buildings on the Gulf side of Highway 98 were badly damaged or destroyed.1 In that stretch, at least 150 buildings were destroyed or beyond repair, 75 motel foundations were destroyed and 400 more buildings were damaged.1 Storm surge washed away structures and streets across northwest Florida.1

Eglin Air Force Base measured 14.9 inches of rain, and flooding was reported across the northwest Florida Panhandle, with flash flooding around Pensacola.1 Wind damage spread inland across southern Alabama and Georgia.1 NWS Mobile reports no deaths directly caused by Eloise and 4 indirect deaths in Florida and Alabama.1

Sources

  1. 1. NWS Mobile/Pensacola: Hurricane Eloise - September 23, 1975
  2. 2. NOAA National Hurricane Center: Atlantic hurricane database (HURDAT2), 1851 to 2025

Best track (49 positions)

TimeStatusWindPressurePosition
Sep 13, 06:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph1009 mb17.1°N, 53.5°W
Sep 13, 12:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph1009 mb17.3°N, 54.7°W
Sep 13, 18:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph1009 mb17.4°N, 55.9°W
Sep 14, 00:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph1011 mb17.5°N, 57.0°W
Sep 14, 06:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph1011 mb17.7°N, 58.1°W
Sep 14, 12:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph1011 mb17.8°N, 59.4°W
Sep 14, 18:00 UTCTropical depression29 mph1010 mb18.0°N, 60.5°W
Sep 15, 00:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph1010 mb18.3°N, 61.7°W
Sep 15, 06:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph1010 mb18.5°N, 62.8°W
Sep 15, 12:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph1010 mb18.7°N, 63.8°W
Sep 15, 18:00 UTCTropical depression35 mph1010 mb18.9°N, 64.8°W
Sep 16, 00:00 UTCTropical storm40 mph1007 mb19.0°N, 65.6°W
Show all 49